


To Be a Wizard

by Probably_Not_Batman



Series: Eridan Ampora and the Bullshit of Magic [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Homestuck
Genre: Confusion, F/F, F/M, Hogwarts Forbidden Forest, Hogwarts Inter-House Rivalries, M/M, Multi, Pureblood Society, Squibs, The Cursed Child isn't canon here, harry potterstuck, trying to out logic magic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-01
Updated: 2018-10-01
Packaged: 2019-07-23 06:51:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16153850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Probably_Not_Batman/pseuds/Probably_Not_Batman
Summary: Eridan Flint never considered himself anything but normal, but when a fight of his accidentally destroys a classroom he finds out there's more to this world than he'd ever thought and maybe (though he's still not sure about it) magic might be real.





	To Be a Wizard

**Author's Note:**

> So I know that I have other stories, but this one turned into a monster of worldbuilding between me and a friend and well, here we are! This will be split up into years like the book series, and takes place after the events of the final book at about the epilogue's point! The Cursed Child canon has no bearing here.

Eridan leaned against the door of the car, watching the buildings roll by with a bored expression. His fingers fiddled with the end of his scarf, a nervous habit that was already making this one unravel.

He heard a soft sigh from beside him and glanced at his mother. She glanced at his scarf and he promptly dropped it, crossing his arms tightly across his chest. There was a moment of silence between them before she spoke, her lips twitching up into the smile it always did when she tried to cheer him up.

“You don’t have to be nervous. The past two days have been fun, haven’t they?”

Eridan grimaced to himself for a second before offering her a half-smile. “Yeah, I suppose,” he mumbled, running his nail down the spiral of his lab book. The chemistry book that sat beneath it on his lap had tabs sticking out from the pages, the violet ink of his notes visible even from here.

The secondary school came into view and it struck him again how much nicer this place was than his primary school, even the ivy that crawled up the brick seeming purposeful in cultivating the atmosphere. He adjusted the vest of his uniform, checking in the side mirror that his hair was still in place. The copper curls were a pain in the ass on a daily basis, but he’d gotten pretty good at making sure they did what he wanted them too.

The car slowed to a stop by the sidewalk in front of the school, but before Eridan could get out he felt a hand on his arm. His mother had that worried look again, the one that meant Eridan wasn’t hiding his nerves as well as he thought. Her green eyes, perfectly matching his own, were tightened, the lines around them making her seem older than she was.

“I know it’s hard for you, being the youngest here. If anyone is giving you trouble, I can talk to the headmaster-“

“I’m fine,” he insisted quickly and maybe harsher than he meant to. “It’s not like I hav-ven’t dealt with people like this before. ‘Sides, I’m here for the science, not for them.” His stutter made him roll his eyes, making a mental note to avoid those letters for today. The more stressed he was, the worse it got, and he didn’t need to give those assholes any more fuel. Well, really only one asshole in particular.

After another moment was stomach churning concern, she sighed and smiled, reaching out to tuck a curl behind his ear. “Well, I’m proud of you, Eridan.”

He flushed with embarrassment, but his scowl just made her laugh. “Now, get over there and have fun. And clean your glasses, they’re filthy,” she called as he got out of the car.

“Mum!” he huffed, admitting to himself that he was whining a little bit.

She snickered into her hand, her smile seeming less worried now. “I’ll pick you up after camp. If anything happens, just call me. I love you.”

Eridan sighed loudly but leaned down and mumbled a quick “lov-ve you too” before closing the door and walking inside.

The entrance hall still managed to unnerve him, banners hanging from the ceiling beside tall glass cases that housed various awards for everything from academics to athletics. He ignored the shiny trophies and forced himself to walk quickly down the hall, only to pause as he realized he’d gotten lost for the third time in as many days, pulling the map from his bag and counting hallways until he was at the right classroom.

The empty halls echoed every footstep back at him and he could only imagine how loud they’d be once they were full. It was almost eerie to walk through them alone, as he never seemed to arrive at the same time as any of the other people attending this camp.

When he opened the door, a few students looked up from their conversations. Most of them were much further along in their studies, at fifteen or sixteen and getting ready for their A levels. Of course, they’d be a little annoyed to be sharing the camp with an eleven-year-old who had yet to even attend his first semester at the school.

He steeled himself against the rolled eyes thrown his way and just considered himself lucky no one had said anything yet. Another stroke of luck was the fact that his table was in the back of the room. He trudged back and set his books on the table, dropping his bag on the floor beside his stool and digging out a pencil to start the prelab.

The blissful peace didn’t last for long, a heavy hand clapping down on his back and almost slamming his face into the table as the hard edge jammed into his chest. His glasses slipped to the end of his nose at the force, just barely not falling off of his face. A loud voice accompanied the ‘good-natured’ greeting, making Eridan grit his teeth and remind himself that he’d promised his mother he wouldn’t get into any more fights.

“Morning, Flint,” the boy next to him grinned, dropping a bag on the table and almost knocking over a beaker with it.

“W-watch it,” Eridan snapped back, shoving his glasses back into place so he could glare at the other. The glint in the other’s blue eyes turned cold and a heavy weight sunk into Eridan’s stomach as he realized his mistake. Shit.

“Or _w-what_?” he shot back, making a point of leaning into Eridan’s space. “Gonna call your mummy to tell me off? We both know she can’t afford to lose the work time. How many houses is she cleaning to send you here again?”

Eridan could taste blood on his tongue from how hard he was biting it, his hand tightening on his pencil.

“No,” he spat back, choosing his words carefully. “Unlike you, I don’t need my parents to bribe me out of trouble. Aren’t you only here because you failed the class?”

Any words the other had were cut off when the professor walked in, a woman with carefully styled short brown hair and a kind smile. Eridan kept his face carefully neutral when she met his eye. She had told him to let her know about any issues, but he wasn’t about to start shit just because this asshole mouthed off.

At least Eridan could ignore him as she began the quick review and went over the pre-lab, but unfortunately this ‘class’ was more hands on than a typical chemistry class and it wasn’t long before they were left to the lab as she wandered around the room to observe.

Eridan glanced at his ‘partner’, who seemed more interested in messing with his phone than working on the lab and sighed. He arranged the equipment on the table for the order they would need them and carefully put a bulky pair of goggles on over his glasses.

“Are you going to help?” he snipped at Connor, who rolled his eyes dramatically.

“You seem to be managing just fine by yourself.”

“And this is w-why you failed the class,” Eridan muttered under his breath.

A few moments passed of Eridan carefully measuring chemicals before Connor picked up a beaker and began fiddling with it, tapping the glass edge against the table. “My mums on the school board, you know,” he said casually, though this was most likely anything but.

“Good for you,” Eridan said flatly.

“She doesn’t think it’s a good idea to let you in.” Connor grinned and Eridan could see him looking for a reaction. “Says it’s inviting trouble. Didn’t ya get kicked outta your last school?”

“Suspended for two days,” he said carefully. “Two years ago. Honestly, you’d think she’d do a little more research if she was _so_ against me getting accepted. Or that she’d be more worried about her own kid.” He probably shouldn’t be as proud as he was that he didn’t stutter, but it would have taken away from the comeback.

Connor snorted. “Well, it got me thinking-“

“Shocking.”

“-how’d you get in anyway? So, me and Ava made a bet.” He gestured to a girl across the room, who was glancing over curiously. “She thinks you cheated on the entrance test, but I dunno. I think your mum had something to do with it.”

Eridan set the last tube of chemicals in the tray, his hands curling into fists. Anger curled in his stomach, hot and violent. He wanted to lash out, but he’d promised. He’d promised.

The rage was crushed glass in his veins, contained only by the self-control that had been wearing thin for days now. Why couldn’t he just _back off_?

He didn’t notice the way his papers were beginning to flutter, though there wasn’t a breeze. The way the glass on the table was beginning to rattle as though the table was shaking.

Connor didn’t notice either, his face shining with glee as he watched the angry flush creep over Eridan’s pale skin.

“Is that it, Flint? Because I bet the only reason you got in is because she got on her knees and begged-“

Eridan’s composure broke, the already flimsy control snapping as he spun around. His fist pulled back as a snarl curled his lip up, the amusement in Connor’s face fading into shock as Eridan’s fist connected with his right eye.

And the room exploded.

Chairs and tables flew toward the walls, tumbling over and flinging beakers against the walls. They smashed, sending glass bits and drops of chemicals flying as the remainder of the liquids dripped down the walls. The bookshelf at the edge of the room suddenly ejected all of the volumes from its shelves, send the already frantic students running for cover. One girl screamed as the windows shattered, glass raining down on the room.

Students yanked each other toward the door, a few crying and many with glass bits shining from their hair.

Eridan froze, his hand throbbing as he looked at the destruction that left a clear circle around him. He didn’t have time to contemplate what had happened though, because a hand had suddenly gripped the front of his shirt and yanked him upwards, until he was just barely balancing on his tiptoes.

Connor glared at him and he got a brief glance of the rapidly forming black eye the other was sporting before a fist collided with his nose. He felt a crack as pain blossomed across his face and he drove his knee into the other’s stomach. Connor dropped him, but swiped at him before he could get away, grabbing his goggles and ripping them off of his face, along with his glasses. The room went blurry and Eridan lashed out, landing a few hits before large hands wrapped around his arms and dragged him away.

He blinked and forced himself to focus, looking up and realizing that Professor Slick, a coach and government professor, was glaring down at him. The adrenaline drained out of him quickly as he saw another professor, Boxcars, pulling Connor from the room.

“To the Headmaster’s office,” Slick growled, the jagged scar he had over one eye only making him more intimidating.

“Can I grab my glasses first?” Eridan managed, grimacing when he tasted blood and realizing it was streaming from his nose.

Slick narrowed his eyes but let him go. When Eridan picked up his glasses, one of the legs fell off and he grimaced. These were barely six months old. Maybe he could fix them?

He shuffled after the professor, jumping when they got to the door and an icepack was shoved in his face, along with a wad of napkins. A woman he assumed was the nurse, smiled at him and he thanked her in a quiet voice before stumbling into the office and taking a seat in one of the large, fancy chairs.

“Nice of you to join us, Mr. Ampora,” the headmaster said, a pleasantly unpleasant smile on his face. He wore a pure white suit with hints of lime green, most of his office decorated with the same color. “Please try to refrain from bleeding on the furniture.”

He pressed the napkins to his face, hissing in pain when the movement jostled his nose.

“Headmaster Scratch, he-“

The headmaster silenced Connor with a look. “We will discuss this when your parent’s get here, Mr. Sullivan.”

Eridan’s eyes widened as he realized his mother must have been at work, guilt sinking deep into his gut.

The silence of the room was heavy, but it wasn’t long before a short woman with a sharp haircut burst into the room, her eyes flaming and furious. She immediately darted to Connor’s side, cupping his face and examining his black eye and split lip. “Oh, Connor. Sweetie are you okay?”

Her worried gaze turned to a glare as she looked at Eridan. “Did you do this to my baby?”

“Now, Mrs. Sullivan,” the Headmaster started, only to be cut off.

“This is why I said it was a bad idea to let riffraff into our school. Trouble is the only thing that follows.”

There was more, but Eridan tuned it out as the door opened yet again and his mother walked in. She was breathing hard, her hair starting to fall out of the tight bun it had been in as she looked from Eridan to Connor to his mother to the Headmaster. Her blouse still had her name tag from the library pinned to it.

“Thank you for joining us, Ms. Flint,” Headmaster Scratch said quickly. “Apologies for having to call you at work.”

“Not a problem,” she replied, stepping up beside the chair Eridan was in. “What happened?”

“What happened is your little brat attacked my son!” Mrs. Sullivan snapped, glaring at both of them.

To her credit, Eridan’s mother kept her cool and only raised an eyebrow. “And you’re sure of that? From what I can see, my son is the one currently bleeding.”

Mrs. Sullivan’s mouth fell open indignantly, but the Headmaster stepped in quickly.

“I suggest we let the boys tell their sides of the story,” he said. “As we currently have only two injured students and a destroyed classroom as evidence.”

Eridan sunk further into the chair at the look his mother gave him.

Headmaster Scratch gestured toward Connor. “Mr. Sullivan?”

Connor looked around the room before he shrugged. “I dunno. We were doing our experiment and all that when the little prick-“

“Connor!” his mother hissed, and he paused.

“I mean… he just kind of lost it and hit me. I don’t know what happened to the classroom, but I’d be willing to bet he put something in a beaker.”

Eridan’s mouth fell open and he sat up straight. “I had nothing to do w-with w-what happened to the classroom! And I didn’t just suddenly decide to hit you either!” He looked at the Headmaster. “He’s been talking about my family for three days now-w!”

“Did you tell your professor?” the Headmaster said calmly, folding his hands on his desk.

Eridan deflated a little. “I- no.”

“And did you try to settle the matter without violence?”

Eridan grimaced and ducked his head. “I told him to leav-ve me alone.”

Connor’s mother put her hand on her son’s shoulder, her other hand resting on her hip. “I think it’s fairly obvious what happened. This…child simply could not handle a few jokes, as people more mature than him often make, and lashed out, attacking my child and destroying the classroom in the process.”

“Excuse me!” Eridan’s mother interrupted. “It doesn’t sound like your son was ‘making jokes’ so much as intentionally verbally attacking my son. Eridan would never destroy a classroom, nor do I think he would have the ability to in the time this apparently took place. Perhaps this wouldn’t have happened if your child had enough common decency to not bully those younger than him.”

“And perhaps your child wouldn’t lash out if he had a father figure to be an example for him.”

Eridan’s mother flinched back, her hand tightening on the chair.

“I’m on the school board,” she hissed. “And I knew this was a bad idea. I know all about your situation.”

Before the argument could continue, the Headmaster stood. “Please. This is not the time for this.” He looked at Eridan’s mother. “Ms. Flint?”

She gave him a hard look. “Yes.”

“As we do not have any proof that your son was involved in the destruction of the classroom, we will not be charging you for the damages. However,” he paused and looked at Eridan. “It may be a good idea for you to look for another school to enroll your son in for the fall semester.”

Her mouth fell open. “You can’t be serious! He is not the only one involved and-“

“I’m sorry, but my decision is final.”

Her jaw tightened, and she looked at Eridan. “Come on, Eridan. We’re leaving.”

Eridan scrambled to stand, shooting one last glare at Connor before following his mother out of the room. He could still hear the other’s mother ranting, his shoulders hunching all the way to the car.

His mother didn’t say anything until they were both in the car, suddenly looking exhausted and on the edge of tears. Eridan fumbled for something to say, only able to watch as she composed herself.

“Where are your glasses?”

Eridan held up the broken frames. “I-I can tape them until w-we can get a new-w pair,” he said quickly. “I’m sorry.”

Her voice sounded as tired as she looked as she started the car. “We’ve talked about this, Eridan.”

“But he just w-wouldn’t stop! And then he started talking about you and I…” he sighed. “I don’t know what happened to the classroom though. That wasn’t my fault, everything just started flying.”

His mother looked like she was considering something, opening her mouth and closing it again. Eridan braced himself for her to tell him how disappointed she was, and why wouldn’t she be? He’d just thrown away this great opportunity over a fight.

“…things started flying?”

He was a bit confused on why she would get stuck on that. “Yeah? I was trying to ignore him, but he just kept going and I…snapped and when I punched him the whole room went crazy. The windows broke, and the tables and chairs just flew to the walls and there were books everywhere. It was like some…force had just exploded from us and shoved everything back!”

She paused again. “Like…magic?”

He gave her a weird look. “You know magic isn’t real, mom.”

She nodded absentmindedly, not looking at him. After a few moments, she spoke again. “How’s your nose?”

“I…don’t think it’s broken?” he said. “The bleeding has mostly stopped.”

“We’ll go to the clinic later,” she mumbled, mostly to herself. “Are you hurt anywhere else?”

He shook his head. “I got more hits than he did.” She gave him a look and he shrugged sheepishly.

The remainder of the ride was quiet as Eridan fiddled with his glasses, trying to line the broken leg back up with the frames.

When they got to the house, Eridan’s mother stopped him in the living room. “Eridan…there’s something we need to talk about. I wasn’t going to…I didn’t think…well…this kind of solidifies things for me.”

Eridan grimaced. “…Am I grounded?” He expected as much, not sure why she seemed so hesitant about it.

“Not exactly.” She took a deep breath and sat down, an envelope in her hands. She patted the couch beside her and he sat down as well. “Do you remember what I’ve told you about your father?”

“That he’s an asshole who left us when I was too young to remember him?”

She gave him a look at the cursing, but apparently decided that wasn’t the most pressing matter. “…there’s that. Also, his family is part of a certain…community. Coincidentally, so is mine.”

Eridan raised an eyebrow.

“Not the family you know. You know how I was adopted by your Gramps and Gram?”

Eridan nodded, unsure of anything else to add.

“Well, when I was seventeen I decided to try and find my biological family. Most of them wanted nothing to do with me, but I did get in contact with a younger brother. Through him I met your father. He…they went to this…boarding school. It was very exclusive and though my family had all gone, I was not able to. I…didn’t think you’d be able to either, but a few days ago I got this. I thought it might be a mistake but given what happened today I don’t think it is. I just can’t believe I didn’t see the signs sooner.” She sighed.

“Are…are you sending me to boarding school?” Eridan asked, his voice steadily getting louder as he stood back up. “I know I messed up but- but you don’t have to-“

She shook her head. “It’s not- it’s not exactly like that. It’s hard to explain.” After a moment, she handed him the letter. “Just…read this.”

**_Dear Mr. Eridan Ampora,_ **

**_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for the coming term. Enclosed you will find a list of all necessary books and equipment for your first year with us._ **

**_The term begins on 1 September._ **

**_Please confirm your acceptance by owl no later than 31 July._ **

**_Yours sincerely,_ **

**_Minerva McGonagall_ **

**_Headmistress_ **

Eridan frowned at the letter, looking over the list that took up the other page. It contained things like robes, a cauldron and a wand!

“This has to be some kind of joke!” he exclaimed, searching his mother’s face for some kind of answers. “I- this can’t be real.”

“It is,” she said gently, chewing on her lip for moment.

“How-w-w?!” Wow his stutter was getting worse, but he couldn’t focus on that right now.

“Just…please sit down and I’ll try to explain.”

He sat, looking at her expectantly.

“So…your father and his family are…magic,” she started.

“How-“

“And so is my family,” she said sharply. “My biological one. I…wasn’t. I didn’t have any ability and I never got my letter, so they disowned me. That’s when I was adopted. It was…a disappointment to them, to have a child who was a Squib.”

“A Squib?” Eridan repeated, still barely taking any of this is.

“It’s the name for someone like me. The child of magical parents who has no ability. I was essentially a muggle and they couldn’t have that in the family.” She looked at her lap, where her hands were clasped. Before Eridan could ask, she waved him down. “A muggle is a non-magical person. However, it’s not guaranteed that the children of a Squib will also be one, especially when the other parent is magical, so your father didn’t think it would be problem.”

“Then w-why’d he leav-ve? W-why didn’t you tell me about any of this?!”

“…usually if someone has the ability, it will show up when they’re young. We waited…but he got impatient. He assumed if it hadn’t shown up it meant you were…like me. It was bad enough to his family that he had a Squib wife, but to have a child as well…” She wouldn’t meet his eyes. “I assumed the same thing and…ignored the signs. The little things, like things getting broken when you were frustrated. But today…that was magic Eridan. Hogwarts will help you learn to control it, to even make use of it. You need the training.”

Eridan opened and closed his mouth, staring at the papers again. “And if I don’t go?”

“Well…if you don’t go your powers will just get stronger. Someone could get hurt.” She sighed. “You have to go.”

“So, you knew-w this could happen, and you just didn’t tell me! W-what if something happened? Hell, something did happen today!” He was yelling now, gesturing wildly. “And w-why does this letter say Ampora! W-we’re Flints, aren’t w-we?”

She still wouldn’t look up. “If I was right I didn’t want to- It was better for you to grow up as a muggle than to grow up like I did, knowing there’s something wrong with you! And…Ampora is your father’s surname. Evidently, the school has you registered under his name.”

Eridan’s bullshit meter for the day was overflowing, all of this too much for him to deal with. He dropped the papers and darted to his room, hearing his mother call after him.

“Eridan, you can’t-“

“No!” he interrupted, overwhelmed. At the shout, his door slammed shut, though he hadn’t touched it. He froze and stared at his hands, tears welling in his eyes as he sunk to his bed.

He knew it was barely midday, but he curled up and hoped against hope that maybe this would all go away when he woke up.


End file.
